Crotched Mountain Golf Club

Expected the course to be in better shape as it is a Donald Ross course (the front nine), but unfortunately it was pretty beat up...and the drive is a long way from just about anywhere...the restaurant was good and very friendly.

What has always struck me first about Crotched Mountain is the awesome scenery here. This is among them most beautiful courses I’ve played throughout all of New England, and I can’t help but feel invigorated by a place with this many long and impressive vistas to the mountains themselves. On a clear day, especially, the finish to the back nine rewards with a dazzling view of Crotched Mountain. The second lure has been playing a layout partially designed by the great Donald Ross. I played this course when it was Tory Pines–long ago, in the 80s–but clearly its attention to detail and quality has been improved since those times. My son and I had a great match here–he beat me on the last hole–some six years back, on a day when we also enjoyed eating at the on-site restaurant.

Layout Overview / Course Defenses.
Crotched Mountain is, in fact, a mountain golf course–so its name is fitting–with only a couple of relatively flat fairways at eleven and twelve. The number one obstacle posed here are the slopes: on the fairways, around the greens, and on them. Bunkers also defend most holes, though they are not overused. The presence of some fairway traps sets this track apart from many public courses that use few or none of these.

One point of emphasis is the severity of the slopes on some of these holes, which often goes well beyond the typical course “norm,” even for New England. On the very tight par-5 seventh, for example, I saw my second shot hit the middle of the fairway, only to watch it trundle down quickly into the right rough. And rare is the fairway or greenside lie that has little to no slope.

The other major defense is the woodlined peripheries of these holes. Only eleven and twelve provide some breathing space, if only on one side of each fairway. Water also comes into play only moderately, making an appearance in the form of ponds on 1, 4, 6, 9 and 12, and also a crossing stream on the thirteenth. In my view, the restrained use of water here–as opposed to its overuse–is actually a course asset.

The excellent greens, which may be the course’s greatest strength, are well-contoured and well-designed, though I think the front side greens from Ross are a bit better and more interesting, especially on holes three through eight. Notable greens on the back include thirteen and fourteen, seventeen and eighteen.

Difficult Short Par-4s:
On both front and back sides, one of the key objectives by the designers here seems to have been to make you work for every par, including on nearly all of the short par-4s, most notably 5, 8, 10, 14, 15 and 17. That’s six mini-monsters, all of which have narrow, sloping fairways that typically make for tricky sidehill lies on your approaches into small–and often elevated–greens. You need not always hit laser-straight shots to hit and hold the fairways, but it genuinely helps to be able to work the ball both ways to boost your percentages, although I found a draw suited better to most of these six short holes.

Tough Par 3’s:
Three and sixteen are about equally tough par-3s, and play as the toughest holes on this course. The third is the shorter of the two, but plays straight uphill to a robustly sloped green which drops down steeply from back to front. In front, two massive bunkers squeeze the narrowest of necks–so forget about rolling the ball up and onto this green. And good luck two- putting the third green when you’re outside of thirty feet or, worse, above the hole. The iconic 196-yard sixteenth demands an even better full shot from its perched tee box, as this hole plummets down some four “stories” to a small green, a green that is flanked by large, deep bunkers and, beyond these, deep woods. Wow! And, in case you are left wanting for more tough par-3s, there is the almost-as-tough, steeply downhill sixth, along with the challenging and stunning eighteenth (see picture).

Best Hole:
I liked the downhill par-4 fourth, which not only offers a scenic view and drive from a high tee (that must be carefully placed) but also an interesting layup prior to the pond that guards the front of the green. Ross pitched this green beautifully, and putting it with care is a must. Halfway down the fairway is a terrific view of the resort.

Two Most Interesting Holes:
–The eighth is pure Ross artistry, the best of the short holes at CMGC. It features an offset fairway to which the best shot is clearly a draw. The pitch into the plateau green is hardly an easy one because the green is so narrow, and it’s better to avoid the flanking greenside traps than be in one of them.

–The par-4 tenth is a fascinating driving hole, with a right side slope that may help keep cut drives in play. The fairway, however, is quite tight, the green long, narrow and well-bunkered. Green surrounds feature some of the most elaborate mounding I’ve seen anywhere in New Hampshire. Great stuff.

Conditioning:
Good overall. The greens are outstanding here, among the smoothest, fastest, and best I’ve played in 2023. Fairways ranged from good to very good; roughs were good; greenside roughs excellent and fringes well-tended. Tees ranged from good to fair, and bunkers were mostly fair–many not raked recently and some a bit washed out. One of them that I landed in at fourteen was beset by weeds, though most of these bunkers appeared playable.

Some Conclusions
Crotched Mountain Golf Course left me with another positive impression today, and I plan to return for another shot at this somewhat stern but intriguing layout that bears the clear and clever imprint of Donald Ross. With several outstanding holes, this ranks among the better layouts (top five or so) to visit in south/central New Hampshire. Beyond that, service was excellent, and I found everyone around the clubhouse friendly and helpful. While I am not a big fan of tight holes with narrow fairways, I am learning, in my old age, to accept the challenge of playing them with more patience. Whereas it’s clear that course knowledge is a strong advantage, there are birdie opportunities to be had, and a good score results from controlled shots and a steady putting stroke.

Fun Course! Really love the back 9 at this course, Played the front and was a good time! Course is in nice shape!

Loved the course. Beautiful layout and challenging shots.

My only complaint is that it was a hot sunny day and not one of the water stations were operational. I went to refill my bottle in the clubhouse after the front 9 and there is no fountain or anything.

They did sell bottled water, but it would have been nice to fill up my water bottle.

Had a great time either way. The course was excellent

Great course.....well maintained.....beautiful setting with woods surrounding course. It had rained 2 1/2" night before we played so we had to careful not to do any damage....we will try to play here again before we leave this area 👏🏻😀.

I never played a course quite like this one. Fairways are very narrow and tree lined. If your ball strays, you are lost. Greens were somewhat slow with a lot of undulation to them which made it hard to read. Lots of blind shots which forced me to look over the hills to see if anyone was in striking distance I’ll play it again as I found it challenging and forced me to think about a lot more shots.

I would recommend this course to any one looking for a good course surrounded by great scenery!

I'm from Arizona so enjoyed the wooded mountain layout. Course is a 71 plenty of water, some challenging dog legs and great drop off par three's. Staff super friendly. Also off the beaten path, on one of New Englands original toll roads. Only negative virtually no amenities, like on course bathrooms. Tavern on course doesn't open until 3:00 so no food, but the Tavern is AMAZING, 300 YEARS old, food is affordable, plentiful and local. I used the app we payed $40 with cart!!!!

Greens were very slow and bumpy. Had to slam putts toward the hole to have a prayer. Course had some holes that had narrow fairways that sloped toward the trees. It seemed every group was in the woods looking for their calls on those holes. This slowed play and added to frustration if you hit a shot toward a corner of the fairway and then could not find your ball.

The course itself was in pretty good condition, nice fairways the greens were a little rough. The pace of play was terrible as it took over 4.5 hours to play. There were bugs everywhere which was rather annoying.
Decent value for the money paid. Friendly staff.